Fred MacMurray, Disney Legend

Published: 11/5/2012

Fred MacMurray (Getty Images/Silver Screen Collection)

Fred MacMurray – who died Nov. 5, 1991, 23 years ago today – had a long and fruitful career, with great roles in classics like the Billy Wilder film noir Double Indemnity opposite Barbara Stanwyck. But those of us who were young during the 1960s and beyond probably remember him best for his star turn in TV sitcom My Three Sons, as well as in a string of silver screen comedies.

Late in his life, MacMurray would become the first to be honored as a "Disney Legend." But in 1959, he was simply the father of a teen-boy-turned-sheepdog (it could happen to anyone, really). In The Shaggy Dog, MacMurray uttered a classic line when he referred to the horror fave from two years prior, I Was a Teenage Werewolf: "Don't be ridiculous — my son isn't any werewolf! He's just a big, baggy, stupid-looking, shaggy dog!"

Two years later MacMurray was back at Disney, starring in The Absent-Minded Professor. It was our first taste of Flubber, and we loved it.

In 1963 Disney made the first-ever sequel to one of their films, Son of Flubber, with MacMurray once again in the starring role.

Thanks to his roles in some of our all-time favorites, MacMurray will always be a true Disney Legend.